PETERBOROUGH, ON, March 16, 2016: The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) in partnership with the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce is launching a yearlong examination of Ontario’s healthcare system called the 2016 Health Transformation Initiative. To get the conversation rolling we are releasing a report titled: Transformation through Value and Innovation: Revitalizing Health Care in Ontario, which offers an overarching picture of how transformation could be accomplished. There are three objectives to the initiative:

Determine how business can be productive partners within the single-payer model;

Recognize that there are international best practices that are relevant to Ontario

In working to meet those objectives, the OCC will convene expert stakeholders and industry leaders to develop a blueprint for the future of sustainable health care in Ontario. “Our single-payer health care system has long been a source of pride to Ontarians, as it should be,” said Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. “But due to demographic shifts and economic challenges, funding that system is becoming an increasing source of concern. Health spending in Ontario represents almost half the provincial budget and as our population ages, it is projected that health care costs to government, individuals, and employers will grow well beyond sustainable levels.”Some of the provincial healthcare challenges include:

A population that is aging rapidly and increasingly suffering from chronic illnesses

Unsustainable growth in government health costs that is being managed by artificially limiting spending growth, rather than increasing efficiency or value for dollars spent

A "silo-ed” health care system: Access to care is not uniform across geographic or population needs, knowledge is not being shared across the system

A health and life sciences sector encumbered by a lack of capital

In response to these challenges, the Peterborough Chamber in partnership with the OCC will release a series of reports in 2016. These reports come at a time when system change is being considered, as the federal and provincial governments are on the cusp of re-negotiating the health accords. The Ontario government has also indicated its new priorities for an innovative, patient-first system, including the creation of the Office of the Chief Health Innovation Strategist and naming the province’s first Patient Advocate. For additional information please visit transformhealth.ca

**Results from a survey of 1004 Ontarians conducted on behalf of the OCC by Leger, between February 22 and 25, 2016. The margin of error for this sample is 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.**